Lighting systems are used to illuminate display cases, such as commercial refrigeration units, as well as other display cases that need not be be refrigerated. Typically, a fluorescent tube is used to illuminate products disposed in the display case. Fluorescent tubes do not have nearly as long a lifetime as a typical LED. Furthermore, for refrigerated display cases, initiating the required arc to illuminate a fluorescent tube is difficult in a refrigerated compartment.
LEDs have also been used to illuminate refrigerated display cases. These known systems, however, employ LEDs that emit light at a narrow angle and include complicated optics and reflectors to disperse the light.
With reference to FIG. 1, a typical refrigerated case 10 has a door and frame assembly 12 mounted to a front portion of the case. The door and frame assembly 12 includes side frame members 14 and 16 and top and bottom frame members 18 and 22 that interconnect the side frame members. Doors 24 mount to the frame members via hinges 26. The doors include glass panels 28 retained in frames 32 and handles 34 may be provided on the doors. Mullions 36 mount to the top and bottom frame members 18 and 22 to provide door stops and points of attachment for the doors 24 and/or hinges 26.
The enclosure 10 described can be a free-standing enclosure or a built-in enclosure. Furthermore, other refrigerated enclosures may include a different configuration, for example a refrigerated enclosure may not even include doors. The lighting systems provided in this application can also be used with those types of refrigerated enclosures, as well as in a multitude of other applications.